Omens
by PrydainViolet
Summary: A short story based on a reference in Castle of Llyr. The night before she leaves for Mona, Eilonwy and Taran struggle with the changes they facing as well as threatening voices and bad omens. IDONOTOWNTHEPRYDAINCHRONICLESCHARACTERS


The dusk was falling heavily on Caer Dallben, bringing with it the biting chill of evening and the lullabies of birds. The few occupants of the valley were finishing their daily tasks, but with an unusual quiet gloom that came from the knowledge that soon they would be loosing one of their own. When Dawn came, their Eilonwy would be leaving for the Isle of Mona to learn the ways of a different world. No one was more gloomy or quiet than Taran, who knew that every hour brought him closer to the moment he would have to leave Eilonwy in the care of strangers and return home without her. He had been mulling over the facts of the situation in his head while splitting the last of the firewood.

"I should be relieved," Taran scolded himself "to not have to worry about her anymore." He brought his axe down on a log with more force than was really necessary. "I won't have to listen to her silly ramblings. I won't have to take the time to teach her all the things about farms and animals that she never learned. I'll never have to argue with her, or make sure she doesn't run off somewhere alone-" Taran suddenly looked up and scanned his surroundings. There was Coll making sure the chickens were safely in their coop. There was Dallben sitting outside the cottage watching the sun go down. Gurgi was starting a fire. No Eilonwy. With a groan of annoyance and worry Taran lodged his axe into an obliging stump and started off in search of the girl.

Eilonwy was worried. Worried about what would happen to her tomorrow, worried about the things that were changing inside her body, worried about the thoughts forming in her mind. For days now she had felt a growing dread which she had at first attributed to her looming departure for the Isle of Mona, but the unnamed warnings in her mind were of malice and doom. Sometimes she thought she heard her name being whispered only to discover that she was alone. She clasped the crescent moon necklace in her hand as she rushed to the orchard and the safe, sturdy trees. She felt something in her blood stirring that she could not control. She ran to her favorite tree and wrapped her arms around its trunk, feeling its strength and the life within it. She looked up at the moon and felt it calling to her, felt the pull within her body. She knew it was reckless to climb trees at this time when the light of the sun was nearly gone, but she reached up into the branches and pulled herself up anyway. If only she could get closer to the moon maybe she could understand what it was trying to tell her. Higher and higher she climbed, squinting in the growing dark. She could hear Taran's voice in her memory admonishing her not to go too high into the weak branches, but if she could only get a little closer... She was practically at the top of the tree when she heard it; the whispering. She felt dizzy and sick as a cold voice spoke of Llyr, of her mother, and her own name-

"Eilonwy!"

Eilonwy gasped as she felt herself lurch, the small branches giving way beneath her feet.She grabbed desperately at twigs and leaves knowing that they could not save her. Blank terror consumed her mind as she felt herself suspended for a moment and then falling. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sight of what was happening, against the reality of the ground approaching so fast. The horrible whistling noise in her ears could not drive out the single wailing thought: _if only..._

Impact. Pain. Was she alive? Yes - she could feel her breath - and the breath of another, just as shallow and frightened as her own. Taran. Taran Taran Taran. She clutched at his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, allowing one sob to escape her chest as he clasped her in his arms. They held each other only for an instant, pulling away quickly and clearing their heads. Taran had managed to break Eilonwy's fall by catching her, but she fell from such a distance that the force had knocked him with the girl in his arms to the ground. Both felt bruised and shaken and didn't attempt to stand up for some time. Eilonwy expected the tirade to begin at any moment. The angry words, the scolding... didn't come. Apparently he wanted to avoid an argument tonight as much as she did.

"I'm sorry." Her words crept softly into the silence. For once, she could think of nothing else to say to Taran. The boy only shook his head and stood, helping her to her feet.

Taran felt too much pain and relief to yell at Eilonwy tonight even though she deserved it, the silly girl. This was exactly the sort of thing he wouldn't miss when she left. He hoped. Taran glanced at the girl walking beside him as he recalled the tightness of her arms around his neck and the horrible sound of her sob. She looked strange and distant; troubled. He felt a pang of concern but felt too uneasy to ask. With horror he saw in his mind again the way her body had convulsed and writhed as she was falling, how her long hair had whipped in the wind, the way it fell over his face engulfing him in red and gold as she clung to him as if…as if she needed him. His dread of leaving her was growing with every step they took. What if she got into trouble like this on Mona and he wasn't there beside her? What if he didn't even know that she was hurt or sick - what if something threatened to take her from him forever? The thought of her death sent ghostly chills through his body and mind and he looked at the girl again for the reassurance of her presence. She looked back and her blue eyes meeting his drove the chill away.

"Thank you, Taran of Caer Dallben. I won't forget this."


End file.
